November 21,
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The Perquimans Weekly
350
Vol. 64, No. 44
The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County people
Hertford, North Carolina 27944
3 more charged in rape of Hertford woman
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
three Belvidere men were
taken in custody last week and
charged in the Sept. 7 rape of a
76-year-old woman near
Winfall.
Paul Robin Jordan, 28,
David Jordan, 36, and Richard
Leon Jordan, 41, were all
arrested last Wednesday. Each
man is charged with first
degree burglary, first degree
rape and first degree sex
offense. The men are being
held in Albemarle District Jail
in lieu of $90,000 secured
bonds. They are scheduled to
appear in court for probable
cause hearings on Dec. 4.
Irvin Joe Brinkley, 36, of
Route 1, Hobbsville, was the
first to be arrested in the case.
Brinkley was arrested on Sept.
18, 11 days after the assault
occurred. He was indicted by
the grand jury on charges of
burglary, rape and sex offense,
all in the first degree, and
remains in custody in Raleigh
under a $280,000 secured bond.
The assault occurred during
the early morning hours of
Sept. 7, according to
Perquimans County Sheriffs
Deputy Dean Cartwright.
Betas meet in Hertford
PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS
Betas from across the district met at Perquimans County
High School Monday for the 1996 District Beta Club conven
tion. Matt Tunnell, 1995 district president and a Perquimans
High School senior, turned his job over to Perquimans High
School junior Patrick Gregory, who was elected 1996 presi
dent by the convention. The day of campaigning, scholar
ship interviews and Beta business ended on a fun note, with
individuals and groups competing in a talent show.
Hertford man charged with rape Saturday
By TOM LANGHORNE
The Daily Advance
ELIZABETH CITY—A
Hertford man was arrested
Saturday and charged with
raping and stabbing a 72-year-
old woman in Sawyertown
early Saturday morning.
Ricky Lee McPherson, 27, of
Rtoue 5, Box 120, Hertford,
faces one count each of first
degree rape and first degree
‘burglary. The rape charge is
punishable by up to life in
prison. For the burglary,
McPherson could get up to 40
years if convicted.
Both charges are felonies.
-. Investigative Seargeant Ed
Kirby with the Elizabeth City
Police Department said
Saturday that police believe
McPherson broken into the
victim’s residence on West
Burgess Street at about 3 a.m.
that day.
Kirby said a casual over
sight may have made the
alleged rape possible.
“There were no visible
signs of forced entry, so we
think the door may have been
left open,” he said. “She was
sleeping on a mattress in the
kitchen area downstairs
because that’s where the heat
was.”
McPherson allegedly sat on
the end of the victim’s bed,
Kirby said, at which point she
woke up.
“He (allagedly) threatened
her with a knife, said ‘I’m
going to cut you,’ “ the investi
gator said.
McPherson allegedly beat
the victim about the head and
face with his fists and dragged
her around the downstairs
area in a headlock, Kirby said.
He said the victim also sus
tained three small stab
wounds in her neck.
“(McPherson allegedly) held
a knife to her throat and it cut
into her skin,” he said. “The
wounds were at most a quar
ter-inch deep.but that knife
could have hit an artery.”
The victim’s right index fin
ger was “slit wide open” in an
apparent defensive stab
wound, Kirby said. He said
police still don’t know in what
sequence the victim was
raped, beaten, stabbed or
dragged by her head.
“She was eventually able to
escape next door to a neigh
bor’s house, where they came
to the door and called 911 for
her,” he said.
McPherson, who had been
seen drinking alcohol at a
neighborhood bar hours earli
er, never tried to chase the vic
tim,” Kirby said.
“Mr. McPherson is a known
alcoholic and crack cocaine
user with a criminal record
that does include assaults,”
the investigator said. “Before
he left the victim’s house he
(allegedly) stole her 26-inch
color TV and possibly some
jewelry.”
McPherson was arrested at
about 2 p.m. Saturday after
authorities received enough
information from an infor
mant to obtain warrants
against him. He said the sus
pect was found hiding in the
crawl space under a family
member’s residence.
“At one point the guy was
friends with the victim’s son
and had stayed at that resi
dence visiting him,” he said.
Asked if the men are still
friends, Kirby said they were
“presumably up until last
night.”
Hertford board makes zoning recomendations
The Hertford Planning
Board paved the way Monday
' night for the town to consider
; a request to be submitted by
American Legion Post 126.
; The Legion wants to erect a
; 50 X 100 metal building on the
West Academy Street lot it
owns adjacent to its present
building on the corner of West
Academy and Grubb streets. A
'problem arose for Legion
members when they began to
pursue their building plans
because their property is locat
ed in a TR—transitional resi
dential— zone. Clubs, lodges
and fraternal organizations
are permitted as a conditional
use in RA and C-2 zones, but
not in TR. The Legion’s pre
sent building was already in
use at the time the ordinance
was passed, and its use was
allowed to continue. Also, the
town had no definition or a
club or lodge in its ordinance
book.
Monday, the board adopted
the following recommended
definition for a club or lodge:
A building or parcel of land
used by a membership organi
zation engaged in non-profit
civic, social, or fraternal activ
ities. Included in this defini
tion, but not limited to, are fra
ternal lodges, veterans’ organi
zations, civic associations,
booster clubs, and social clubs.
In addition, the board arec-
ommended allowing the opera
tion of clubs and lodges as a
conditional use in TR zones.
Members of the Hertford
Town Council, who met with
the planning board Monday,
wiU act on the planning board
recommendations in regular
session on Dec. 9.
If council approves the plan
ning board recommendations,
the American Legion group
can request a conditional use
permit to allow them to con
struct the proposed new build
ing. The group would have to
follow all other related ordi
nances, including providing 25
on-site parking spaces and set-
Cartwright said the perpetra
tors knocked on the door of the
victim earlier, asking to come
in her home, but the woman
refused them entry and told
them to go to her son’s house
nearby.
Later, her home was broken
into and she was raped.
Cartwright said it did not
appear anything was taken
from the house.
The victim’s mother was in
another room in the house at
the time of the assault. She
was not harmed.
Cartwright said the case is
still being investigated.
Mailbox vandals
bring feds to town
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Santa Claus isn’t the only
one checking to see who’s
naughty and nice in
Perquimans County these
days. He’s been joined by
inspectors with the U.S. Postal
Service, the Hertford postmas
ter and local law enforcement.
And the Christmas present the
group has in mind for those
responsible for mailbox van
dalism and mail tampering
will be worse than a bag of
switches.
Hertford Postmaster Billie
Stewart said Monday that she
requested help from postal
inspectors and local law offi
cers to solve the rash of crimes
involving mailboxes and mail
that has been reported both in
the town of Hertford and on
Hertford rural routes.
Stewart said her headaches
began with the bottle bombs
that resulting in the arrest of
several county youth in late
summer. Because at least one
of the bombs was placed in a
rural mail box, Stewart was
required by postal regulations
to investigate the incident.
Around Halloween, mail
boxes were knocked down and
hit with pumpkins. Most
recently, there have been
reports of mailboxes being
robbed. Some have been
knocked down and others
stolen.
Investigations of mail theft
completed to date indicate that
mail was stolen from boxes
with the flags up to signal the
carrier to pick up mail.
“It’s a real nightmare,”
Stewart said. “And when we
find out who is responsible, we
will prosecute to the max.”
Being prosecuted to the max
will mean being arrested and
charged under Title 18 of the
United States Code, Section
1705. The federal offense car
ries a fine of up to $1,000 or
three years imprisonment.
According to information
being distributed by the
Hertford Post Office provided
by the United States Postal
Inspection Service, even juve
niles charged in the crimes
involving mailboxes will be
tried as adults because there is
no juvenile statute in the fed
eral criminal law. The cases
would be heard in federal
court in New Bern.
U.S. Postal Service records
show that mail and/or mail
box vandalism is committed
by juveniles who are often
unaware of the seriousness of
the activity and the penalty if
apprehended.
Stewart said inspectors
were working on the case
Monday.
“We’ve had inspectors all
over town today,” Stewart
said.
Stewart said that postal
employees and inspectors are
using every investigation tech
nique at their disposal to find
those responsible for the rash
of mail crimes.
The postal inspection ser
vice offers rewards for infor
mation and services leading to
teh arrest and conviction of
any person involved in the
destruction of letterboxes and
mail.
Hertford postal customers
who are victims of mailbox
destruction or theft or mail
destruction or theft should
report these incidents to the
post office at 426-5353 immedi
ately. Each violation is being
investigated and recorded.
All Stewart wants for
Christmas now is an end to
mail crimes so she and her
employees can concentrate on
providing customers with effi
cient service during the
upcoming holiday rush.
Culpepper will be in parade
backs. The board of adjust
ments could also set other
requirements.
Next the planning board
will meet in a work session to
deal with definitions and ordi
nances regarding bars and tav
erns. Town manager John
Christensen, who also serves
as zoning administrator, said
the town’s ordinances do not
contain a definition of bars
and taverns, nor list where
they can be located.
Planning board members
said they wanted to discuss the
issue later when they had had
sufficient time to gather
research on the issue. No date
was set.
State representative Bill
Culpepper (D-Chowan) will
serve as grand marshall of the
Perquimans County
Christmas parade on Dec. 7,
according to Chamber of
Commerce parade chairman
Diane Stallings.
While Culpepper and
parade judges have been
secured for the event, Stallings
said many more parade
entries are needed.
“Without the participation
of our churches, civic groups,
businesses, and school groups,
all the planning in the world
will not result in a successful
holiday event,” Stallings said.
“A good parade requires com
mitment from the community.
We hope to see entries pick up
as the date draws near.”
Parade entry forms are
available at the Chamber
office, and may be submitted
to the Chamber, NationsBank
or Perquimans Weekly.
Outside
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